The US Department of Justice announced in a press release that it reached a settlement with staffing firm Pyramid Consulting Inc. over allegations of immigration-related discrimination. But the Alpharetta, Georgia-based firm said the announcement mischaracterizes the situation.

In its announcement, the Department of Justice said the staffing firm discriminated against an asylee by rejecting the man’s valid employment authorization documentation and requesting an unnecessary extra document. The department then alleges the man was fired after he refused the request.

Pyramid released this response to the Department of Justice announcement:

“In regard to the recent DOJ posting of May 25th, it is the opinion of Pyramid Consulting that the DOJ has incorrectly characterized the circumstances in its press release and erroneously concluded that Pyramid Consulting discriminated against a new employee. Pyramid Consulting maintains that the company did not engage in intentional discrimination against the employee and would like to point out that DOJ has not substantiated this claim of discrimination. While DOJ claims that Pyramid Consulting rejected the employee’s valid employment authorization documentation and then fired him because he refused to comply with the company’s unlawful request, that is not accurate. 

“Pyramid Consulting at no time intentionally discriminated against the employee and did not ‘fire’ him. However, Pyramid Consulting does acknowledge that it did make an unintentional administrative error with respect to the processing of the employee’s paperwork for a job placement and therefore had already agreed to compensate him for lost wages prior to DOJ starting the investigation and several months before reaching the settlement with DOJ. The DOJ’s investigation ultimately only served to delay the payment of back pay to the employee. Given that Pyramid Consulting had already intended to compensate the employee, the company chose to settle the claim with the DOJ rather than incur the time and cost of litigation. This DOJ settlement in fact closes the inquiry.”

In its press release, the Department of Justice says the staffing firm rejected the worker’s driver’s license and Social Security card and requested the man provide an Employment Authorization Document instead, according to the department. It noted that a driver’s license and Social Security card qualified as adequate documentation.

When the worker pointed the company to the law prohibiting unfair documentary practices, the company terminated his employment, according to the department. The man was ultimately rehired after the department began its investigation, but he lost several weeks of pay.

The Immigration and Nationality Act prohibits employers from requesting more or different documents than necessary to establish eligibility to work based on employees’ citizenship, immigration status or national origin, according to the department.

Pyramid Consulting will pay a civil penalty of $5,204 and back pay of $13,920 to the worker under the terms of the settlement, according to the department. It will also revise its policies and procedures, ensure that relevant employees participate in training on the requirements of the INA’s anti-discrimination provision, and be subject to departmental monitoring over the term of the agreement.

“We are pleased that Pyramid Consulting will compensate the charging party for lost wages and work with the Department of Justice to ensure that the company does not impose unlawful discriminatory barriers on employees when verifying their eligibility to work,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela Karlan of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.